City of Sydney Council has placed pressure on the state government to improve public transport links to Green Square, with the population boom not accounted for by current infrastructure.
With 63,000 people expected to call the precinct home by 2036, Council is concerned about the current light rail line. In a proposal put forward to Premier Chris Minns, City of Sydney has proposed the extension of the current light rail network and a stop at Zetland. The proposal forms part of the Council’s wider plan to reach net zero by 2035.
A station at Zetland was initially earmarked as part of the Metro West rail line, but was scrapped in 2019. City of Sydney wants it back on the table, spending approximately $40 million on land to preserve a corridor that runs from Central Station over the last decade.
“As well as calling for Metro West to extend there, we have reserved the eastern transit corridor for a four-kilometre light rail route to the city,” a City of Sydney Spokesperson says in an article by the Sydney Morning Herald.
“More electric bus services also need to be rolled out now to support Australia’s most densely populated precinct. The City has worked with the NSW government on short-term public transport, walking and cycling improvements. Such improvements do not represent long-term solutions to the issues in Green Square.”
The entire Metro project is up for review by the state government, with initial estimates indicating the budget has blown out by some $12 billion. The recommendations are expected to be handed out in due course.
In the meantime, City of Sydney says that a zero-emissions bus service to Green Square is a priority. A number of transport proposals have been outlined in a draft access strategy, which is currently on public exhibition.
For more information regarding the strategy, click here.